Recipe: Red Chile–Infused Chicken

Chris Maher teaches a class called New Mexican with a Twist at his Cooking Studio Taos. “It means modernizing the cuisine to a certain extent, without bastardizing it,” he explains. “For example, my red chile has chocolate and cinnamon in it. However, the quantities are small so that it augments the actual chile flavor, gives it legs. These additions are imperceptible, but people enjoy what happens in their mouth, on their palate.”

Red Chile–Infused Chicken

One batch of red chile sauce (recipe above)

1 whole, organic chicken

Generously salt and pepper the inside cavity of the chicken. Using a cooking syringe, inject the sauce under the chicken skin in three places on each side—the leg, thigh, and breast—and also in the back.

Truss the chicken with cooking string. (Look for demonstrations online.)

Cook the chicken on a rotisserie or roast it in a 425° oven for roughly 1 hour. (If roasting, place the breast side down for the first 30 minutes and then turn over.)